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Spanish moss, which was used as mattress stuffing at the Cleaveland Fibre Factory

Around noon on Friday, May 3, 1901, workers at the Cleaveland Fibre Factory on the corner of Beaver and Davis Streets knocked off for lunch. Several minutes later, sparks from the chimney of a nearby shanty started a fire in a pile of Spanish moss that had been laid out to dry. Factory workers made a futile attempt to extinguish the blaze, which was soon out of control due to the wind picking up out of the east.[1]

In eight hours, the fire burned 146 city blocks, destroyed more than 2,368 buildings, and left almost 10,000 residents homeless. It is said the glow from the flames could be seen in Savannah, Georgia, and the smoke plumes in Raleigh, North Carolina.[2]

Bird's-eye view of the destruction left in the wake of the Great Fire of 1901

Florida Governor William S. Jennings declared martial law in Jacksonville and dispatched several state militia units to help. Reconstruction began immediately, and the city was returned to civil authority on May 17. Seven human deaths were reported.

The George A. Brewster Hospital and School of Nurse Training, which later became Methodist Medical Center, opened to treat black victims of the fire.

The Duval County Courthouse and all its real estate records were destroyed in the fire. To this day real estate deeds in Duval County refer either to "the current public records of Duval County, Florida" or, if the records predate the fire, "the former public records of Duval County, Florida." It is the only county in Florida for which that is the case. The only existing pre-Fire real estate records are title abstracts saved by Title and Trust, a title company that still charges for their use.